"Preface The purpose of mathematical programming, or optimization, is to maximize or minimize an objective function considering some constraints. One of the applications of mathematical programming is to design and control communication networks, which consist of multitudes of nodes and links. For example, when the capacity of each link is given in a network, a key problem is to find an optimum set of routes on which a traffic flow from a source node to a destination node can be maximized. Another related example is as follows: when the capacity and cost of each link in a network and a traffic demand from a source node to a destination node are given, a frequent problem is to find an optimum set of routes that minimizes the total cost of transmitting the required traffic demand. These problems are solved by using the techniques raised in the field of mathematical programming. Linear Programming (LP) is a special case of mathematical programming, where the objective function and all the constraints are expressed as linear functions. Since most of many basic and fundamental optimization problems on communication networks are categorized into LP problems, this book focuses on LP. There are several excellent books that well describe LP and its applications to communication networks for undergraduate and graduate students. Most of them explain how to theoretically solve optimization problems, while those on communication networks may provide some simple examples of typical applications of LP to communication networks by formulating problems on network design and control"--